General aspects of POP

Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP) is a condition in women, where one or more of the pelvic organs is bulging or descending into or through the vagina. The word prolapse comes from the Latin prolabi, which means "falling" or "slipping". Organs from 3 different compartments can be part of POP: the anterior compartment with the bladder in front, the middle compartment with the uterus or vaginal top(if there is no longer a uterus) and the posterior compartment, with the (large) intestine located behind it. 

There is no clearly defined cause of POP and there is no simple uniform treatment of POP leading to an ongoing lively debate about both treatment and prevention of a prolapse. 

POP is a common worldwide health problem and can be a significant burden for the individual woman as well as for the society. Although POP does not often lead to serious illness or death, it does cause a lot of complaints, so that the quality of life of women with a POP is greatly affected.³⁰